lifestyle

Yesterday I was watching an episode of The Voice. It was from a couple of weeks ago, as I am playing catch-up, but that didn’t make a specific moment in it any less meaningful. I’m feeling inspired because of something Adam Levine said to one of the contestants; it really struck a chord with me:

“Fitting in is boring for anyone that wants to be extraordinary.”

I was so blown away by this statement that I had to hit pause and think about it for a moment. I know that things like this have likely been said time and time again throughout history, but for me it was really impactful in that moment. Adam Levine was saying this while sitting on a coaching panel with 3 other truly unique artists who are some of the best in the business. They were all nodding along as though this is something they have known for a long time.

I feel that this is such a true statement, but one that many people don’t realize until much too late in life, or maybe even don’t realize at all. So many of us spend our time growing up just trying to fit in and be “normal”. It doesn’t become apparent until much later that “normal” isn’t really a thing, and that it’s overrated anyhow. It’s way more fun to be who you want, love what you want, and do what you want.

And if you really do want to make a difference in the world, you need to stand out. Being unique is what will allow you to blaze your own trail in life. As someone who recently started a business, I can attest to the fact that I now need to figure out how to set myself apart and find a way to be different from all the other event planners in the world. Why is it that I spent so many years while growing up trying to fit in, and now I am so focused on standing out? I look back and wonder where I would be in life now if I had embraced this perspective sooner.

I really think the key to being extraordinary is standing out and being yourself. This is what allows you the opportunity to follow your dreams… you can’t be afraid to show who you are and go for them. And as I said earlier, it’s all about being who you want, loving what you want, and doing what you want – which is a message we love to promote here on My Fangirl Life.

Welcome to Girl Detectives on My Fangirl Life, where we run investigations on anything we feel needs some mystery solving! From research to experiments to everything in between, we hope that you will join us on our quests for the truth by following this series.

On this episode of Girl Detectives we are investigating another internet mystery! This one is an attempt to make a treat from a modern-literary classic: Harry Potter. Pinterest is full of recipes for the Hogshead specialty Butterbeer. We want to be able to pretend we are also wizards & witches on a break from Transfiguration & Charms classes, drinking a cold one at the Three Broomsticks.

So we decided to investigate whether the internet is telling the truth on this one! See below for our experiment’s method and findings.

OBSERVATION

We first discovered the magic of Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Of course we knew it would be delicious in theory from the books but at the theme park we experienced it for ourselves. We tried it cold, we tried it hot, we tried it frozen. And now we are trying it at home using a recipe from Pinterest.

HYPOTHESIS

We believe we can recreate the delicious beverage we first tried at Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter at home.

MATERIALS

Cream Soda

Butterscotch Syrup

Whipping Cream

Marshmallow Topping

Bowl

Electric Mixer

Chilled Glasses

METHOD

We used a combination of multiple recipes found online in this first attempt, so there isn’t one in particular to link to. The important thing to note is that we started simple. There are much more complex Butterbeer recipes out there but why go through that effort if a simple one works?
1) For the liquid portion of the Butterbeer, start by pouring cream soda into chilled glasses. Leave room to add topping later! 2) Stir butterscotch syrup into the cream soda until it has a sufficiently buttery taste. Be sure to stir slowly, so as to not get the side fizzing too much.
3) For the topping, start by pouring whipping cream into the bowl and whipping with the electric mixer. Mix until the cream can hold peaks on its own.
4) Once your cream has turned into whipped cream add in the marshmallow topping and a couple of spoonfuls of butterscotch syrup. Mix again with your electric mixer. 5) Now glop that topping on top of your liquid mixture and serve!

RESULTS

Let’s look at the drink in two parts: the topping & the liquid!
The liquid was sweet… sooooo sweet… too sweet. We should have expected it; we literally poured syrup into soda. That being said, there were notes to the taste that did match the theme park version. Cream soda was definitely a good call, as was adding a butterscotch taste. But the only cream soda we could find was pink and the it made the colouring of the finished product completely wrong. As for the butterscotch, it would be nice to add the flavour without the sugar content. The topping had a great butterscotch-y hint to the taste. It also had a thicker consistency due to the marshmallow topping. But it wasn’t thick enough. The topping semi sunk into the liquid and cause the cream soda to fizz up over top of it.

CONCLUSION

Perhaps it’s time to try another, more complex, recipe. The liquid portion was too sweet & looked all wrong. The topping was closer to the theme park ‘original’. It tasted really close but wasn’t as thick, as demonstrated by it not staying on top of the liquid. It’s off to the internet to find another recipe! Do you have a favorite Butterbeer recipe? One that you know works? Let us know in the comments!

Love & Luck,
Kris

Girl Detectives: The Secret in the Butterbeer was last modified: May 22nd, 2015 by Kris Padget

Welcome to Girl Detectives on My Fangirl Life, where we will run investigations on anything we feel needs some mystery solving! From research to experiments to everything in between, we hope that you will join us on our quests for the truth by following this series.

As people of the internet, we regularly come across articles online that claim shortcuts for doing everyday things. One of those is what we will be investigating today!

Many of you may have seen the claims that you could bake a cake simply by using a store-bought cake mix and a can of soda pop. If true, this method has a few advantages:

So we decided to investigate whether the internet is telling the truth on this one! See below for our experiment’s method and findings.

OBSERVATION

As mentioned already, this baking tip is all over the internet. But does it actually work? Let’s find out!

HYPOTHESIS

We believe that replacing the liquid items listed on the back of the cake mix with a can of soda pop will result in a delicious cake.

MATERIALS

Store-bought cake mix

Can of soda pop

Bowl

Electric Mixer

Baking pan

Oil or cooking spray

METHOD

1) Go to grocery store and purchase cake mix and soda pop.

2) Put cake mix in bowl.

3) Add 1 can of soda pop to cake mix.

4) Mix with electric mixer until smooth.

5) Grease baking pan.

6) Pour mixture into pan.

7) Bake cake according to directions on the back of the box.

8) Enjoy!

RESULTS

When the baking was complete, the cake came out of the oven looking just like a regular cake, but with a bit of an orange tinge due to our selection of orange pop. The texture was a little more crumbly than normal, but it was not too dry. The cake was a bit on the sweeter side as well, due to the added sugar in the pop. It definitely had a hint of orange creamsicle flavour!

CONCLUSION

This method results in a tasty and sweet cake that we prefer to eat without any icing.

Now it’s time to do some research to find out what other cake mix and pop combinations we could make! Do you have any ideas? Let us know in the comments!

Cheers,

KG

Girl Detectives: The Mystery of the Simple Cake was last modified: March 29th, 2015 by Kristin Glass

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